Exploring The Great Barrier Reef - Fitzroy Island

Weeks of working hard have passed by in a blur. We decided we needed to stop the never-ending carousel and do something fun with some of our hard-earned wages and occasional day's off.

Cairns is famous for the Great Barrier Reef where you can snorkel and dive with turtles and sharks. Bonus to this are a range of stunning islands, a short hop from the city by boat.

Fitzroy Island is home to a resort, a restaurant, with beach hire and water-sports too, as well as some relaxed and safe swimming and snorkelling in the warm spring waters.

On the boat ride over we decided places like Fitzroy are why England just kinda sucks, and why people out here are so abundantly fortunate, because they can just jump on a boat and head out to what some would view as an absolute paradise, on the drop of their wide-brimmed hat.

Being able to explore this small exotic gem is one reason why the tropical North of Queensland is definitely worth a longer stay.

We travelled to the island with locally owned Raging Thunder, who offer a range of packages from a basic island transfer to inclusions for snorkelling, lunch and a glass bottom boat tour.

A fun tour with a medium-sized boat, the island didn't feel too overcrowded in the morning, and so we explored the stunning Nudey Beach, where the water is ridiculously clear and inviting.

We snorkelled here briefly but found the better snorkelling to be had was at the more sheltered Welcome Bay where the main hub of activity is.

The water here is stiller, yet the coral beds are still easy to reach, just a few feet from the shoreline.

There is also an awesome floating trampoline in Welcome bay, free to use for Raging Thunder customers throughout the day. You'll find yourself swimming out to it and practising your flips in no time!

The last 2 months have felt great in terms of progressing in our savings goals as well as making new friendships and sampling life in yet another part of Australia, and this was just one aspect of that.

At times our recent busy schedules have made the real beauty and fun of travel feel like a distant memory, and we hoped we could spend this day recuperating from all the crazy-ness, and we did just that.

Thanks for reading!

Hannah and Taran here. We hail from Southern England, where we met online and are now realizing our mutual passion for travel here at Nomad'erHowFar. We discuss Nomadic Living, Simplifying your Life and Long-term Travel, to empower, motivate and inspire our readers. Get to know us here!